Yated Ne'eman () is a semi-major Israeli daily Hebrew language newspaper based in Bnei Brak. The Hebrew edition is published daily except on the Jewish Sabbath. A weekly English language edition was published in Israel and distributed in Israel, South Africa and Britain until December 2006.

An English language newspaper by the same name is published in New York. It was formerly affiliated with the Israeli newspaper, but is currently independent. This article concentrates on the Israeli Yated Ne'eman.

History

The paper was founded in 1985 by Rabbis Elazar Shach (1898–2001) and Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky (1899–1985). In 1988 Rabbi Shach went on to found the Degel HaTorah political party that later joined forces with Agudath Israel and is called United Torah Judaism. Yated, whose first editor was Rabbi Moshe Grylak, In practice, these particular views are reflected in only a handful of articles each year. Most of the content reports news related to the religious community and articles supporting their ideology which is based on Torah study and mitzvah observance and does not define its basic identity in political terms.

Since December 2006, the Chareidi Dei'ah Vedibur website has continued offering weekly news coverage and occasional religious content in English. The website is edited by the publicist Mordecai Plaut.

The Yated Neeman newspaper published in New York was originally affiliated with the Jerusalem paper of the same name, but is no longer affiliated due to a schism.

The name

The Hebrew phrase "yated ne'eman" literally refers to a peg strongly anchored in the ground, and is used figuratively to describe a secure connection or something which can be relied upon. The name was supposedly given by Rabbi Kanievsky and comes from Isaiah 22 verse 23, "ותקעתיו יתד, במקום נאמן", translated as "And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place", or as "I will drive him like a peg in a firm place".

Censorship

On April 3, 2009, the paper published a manipulated picture of Israeli cabinet ministers to conform to Religious sensitivities of its readers. Female cabinet ministers Limor Livnat and Sofa Landver were digitally removed from the published picture and replaced with male ministers Ariel Atias and Moshe Kahlon.

In 2015, the newspaper refused to print advertisements for the political campaign of U'Bizchutan, a newly formed political party dedicated to the needs of Haredi women and including female candidates on its slate. Ruth Kolian, head of the party, then petitioned the court to stop the discriminatory practice. The party prevailed and the court ordered the newspaper to accept the advertisements. The court rejected the claims made by the news organizations that they might offend customers by publishing ads for the Haredi women's party. The head of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University's Law Faculty, Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, called the court decision "a historic legal precedent which determines that in certain circumstances, considerations of equality for women and election equality, as well as preventing discrimination against women and their preventing their exclusion, surpass property rights of commercial bodies like newspapers. Haredi women are not only prevented in practice from realizing the basic human right of running and being elected for Knesset, they are also denied the equal opportunity to inform their potential voters that they are running independently." Nevertheless, the paper still refused to publish the advertisement and it never ran.

See also

  • List of Israeli newspapers
  • Lithuanian Judaism

References

  • Dei'ah veDibur: Yated Ne'eman Bnei Brak online Selected the articles of the Hebrew Israeli edition are published online weekly in translation, refreshed every Wednesday night.